Samuel LeibowitzWhen New York attorney
Samuel Leibowitz receieved a call from the International Labor Defense
asking him whether he would defend the Scottsboro Boys in their new
trials,
he was considered by many to be the "new Clarence Darrow," the man to
call
if you were charged with a capital crime. In over fifteen years
of
criminal defense work, Liebowitz had represented seventy-eight persons
charged with first-degree murder. His remarkable record over that
period was seventy-seven acquittals, one hung jury, and no convictions.

Leibowitz, born in 1893, immigrated to the United States from
Romania
when he was four, attended college and law school at Cornell, then
embarked
on a career as a criminal defense attorney, seeing it as one path
relatively
open to Jews at the time. In the courtroom, Leibowitz was known
for
his meticulous preparation, knowledge of the law, vibrant voice, and
flamboyant
style.

Many people expressed surprise that the communists would ask
Liebowitz
to lead the Scottsboro defense. He was neither a communist or
even
a radical, but rather a mainstream Democrat who had never been
associated
with class-based causes. The choice of Leibowitz convinced many
that
the communists were serious about achieving justice for the Alabama
defendants,
and not just interested in making political hay. Leibowitz would
be asked to accept as co-counsel, however, the ILD's chief attorney,
Joseph
Brodsky.

After reading the record of the first trials and becoming convinced
of the innocense of the Scottsboro Boys, Leibowitz accepted the ILD's
offer.
He did so against the urgings of his wife and many friends who told him
that the skin color of the defendants gave them no chance in the
Alabama
of the 1930's. He would work for the next four years on the cases
without
pay or reimbursement for most of his expenses.

Leibowitz quickly became an object of loathing around Decatur when
he
opened his defense of Haywood Patterson by challenging Alabama's
exclusion
of blacks from the jury rolls. Local hatred of Liebowitz grew
uglier,
as death threats were made against him after his tough
cross-examination
of Victoria Price. One national reporter overheard several people
saying, "It'll be a wonder if he gets out of here alive." Five
uniformed
members of the National Guard were assigned to protect him during the
trial,
with another 150 available to defend against a possible lynch mob.

Leibowitz was stunned by the jury's guilty verdict in Patterson's
1933
trial. He compared the verdict to "the act of spitting on the
tomb
of Abraham Lincoln." Back in New York after the trial, Leibowitz
vowed to defend the Boys "until hell freezes over." Speaking
before
enthusiatic audiences sometimes numbering in the thousands, he promised
to take guilty verdicts to the Supreme Court and back until Alabama
finally
gives up: "It'll be a merry-go-round, and if some Klu Kluxer
doesn't
put a bullet through my head, I'll go right along until they let the
passengers
off." Leibowitz's determined efforts won the affection of his
clients.
Haywood Patterson said of Liebowitz, "I love him more than life
itself."

After Judge Horton ordered a new trial for Patterson and the state
transferred
the cases to the courtroom of Judge William Callahan, Leibowitz's
frustration
grew. Virtually every motion or objection Leibowitz made was
denied,
virtually every motion or objection made by the prosecution was
sustained.
His anger showed, and Leibowitz found himself mocked, scolded, and
reprimanded
by the Judge Callahan. After guilty verdicts and death sentences
were handed to Patterson and Norris, a battle for control of the case
ensued
between Leibowitz and the ILD. Liebowitz's anger with the ILD
exploded
after two ILD attorneys were charged with attempting to bribe Victoria
Price.

Leibowitz appeared before the United States Supreme Court to
participate
in the appeal of Patterson's and Norris's convictions on the ground
that
blacks were systematically excluded from Alabama's juries. When
Leibowitz
alleged that the names of blacks appearing on jury rolls were
fraudulently
added after Haywood's trial began, Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes
asked
Leibowitz if he could prove that allegation. Leibowitz called for
a page to bring in the jury roll and a magnifying glass, which was
passed
from justice to justice. Their facial reactions indicated
disgust.
The Supreme Court reversed the convictions in a decision that Leibowitz
called a "triumph for American justice."

After the third set of trials, Leibowitz began to involve himself
again
in projects unrelated to Scottsboro. He met on death row several
times with Bruno Hauptmann, the German immigrant convicted of
kidnapping
Charles Lindbergh's baby, in the hopes of convincing him to reveal
details
of the crime.

In early 1937, following a series of secret meetings with Thomas
Knight,
Leibowitz reluctantly agreed to a compromise which would result in the
release of four of the Scottsboro Boys while allowing prosecutions to
again
go forward against the others.Of the compromise, Leibowitz said, "I say
yes, but with a heavy heart, and I feel very badly about it." In
the next set of Scottsboro trials, Leibowitz allowed a local attorney
to
assume the more visible role, while he did the coaching.
Leibowitz
and others concerned with the Scottsboro Boy's welfare feared that the
trials might become a refendum on Leibowitz himself, who was by then
more
unpopular than ever in northern Alabama.

After his work on the Scottsboro Boys case was finished,
Leibowitz
returned to his New York practice, then was appointed to serve as a
justice
on the Supreme Court of New York.